OneStream Splash EMEA Recap

The EPMware team recently attended Splash EMEA 2022, OneStream’s annual user conference and partner summit tailored for EMEA customers and partners, at the Pullman Montparnasse in Paris, France. We were excited to attend as a OneStream technology partner.

Events such as Splash EMEA give us the chance to connect face to face with the OneStream team and learn firsthand about upcoming OneStream updates and innovations. After the past 2 ½ years of virtual networking, it was fantastic to be able to meet with clients and prospects in person again and give live demos of EPMware in action.

Master data and data governance were hot topics for OneStream customers and partners at Splash. In addition to initiatives on implementing a leading corporate performance management (CPM) solution and adding additional capabilities in an existing implementation, customers were eager to learn how centralizing master data creates accurate, accessible and governed reporting for OneStream, data warehouses, and enterprise resource planning platforms. 

For those who weren’t able to attend OneStream Splash EMEA 2022, here’s a quick recap of the event.

The OneStream Partner Summit

The Partner Summit gives OneStream technology partners the opportunity to learn more about working with OneStream, such as which implementation procedures are the most successful and how to build a go-to-market strategy.

Other topics of note covered during the summit included: 

• Customer success and engagement
• A four-tier OneStream certification program
• A revised training model being launched through OneStream Global Education Services

Opening Keynote

During the Splash opening keynote, the OneStream team discussed some of the latest product developments as well as the OneStream roadmap and the latest trends that are driving the direction of OneStream’s intelligent finance platform. Then, a guest panel took the stage to talk about how their organizations use OneStream. 

Jeremy Lamarche, Accor's deputy director, explained how his organization is replacing multiple CPM solutions with OneStream and how Accor has successfully switched to OneStream for consolidating and reporting.

Barbara McLaughlin, Sainsbury’s director of finance transformation, also described how the company replaced both its CPM and Excel spreadsheets with OneStream. According to McLaughlin, Sainsbury’s is also in the process of implementing additional OneStream capabilities, including management and statutory reporting, planning, budgeting, and forecasting.

Lofti Kabbaj, VP of finance transformation at Majorel, explained how the company is using OneStream to create a “reporting factory” for its reporting and analytics and reported that it may also use OneStream to implement cash forecasting in the future.

Sensible Machine Learning Plenary Session

One of the highlights of Splash EMEA was the plenary session highlighting OneStream’s increasing focus on sensible machine learning. 

Scott Leshinski from OneStream shared the stage with Dennis Popma and Magnus Magnusson from Autoliv and Andrew Shea from DataSense Software LLC to talk about how organizations can apply artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to defined use cases to deliver value.

For example, OneStream predicts that the Office of Finance and Operations will adopt AI and ML sooner rather than later. This technology will help finance teams and business analysts identify relevant variables and then analyze and correlate that data to improve forecasting accuracy and performance across the organization.

General Sessions

Thursday and Friday were learning days, with sessions centered around OneStream innovations, user tips, new features, and customer success stories. 

There were several standout sessions, including:

• OneStream Roadmap: What’s New and What’s Coming in Financial Close and Planning & Analytics

This session put the spotlight on planned innovations for financial close and planning and analytics, such as people planning 2.0, support for big data, and marketplace solutions such as account reconciliations and model maker. 

• OneStream Roadmap: What’s New and What’s Coming in Platform Core

OneStream released several new features over the past year and has even more in the works. This session looked at the new and existing OneStream features designed to help users improve performance and be more productive and innovative on the OneStream platform. 

• OneStream Excel Add-In and Spreadsheet - Cool Tips and New Features

During this session, attendees learned how to leverage OneStream’s add-in for Excel and spreadsheet features for data entry, analytics, and reporting on the front end while OneStream handles data governance on the back end.

• Client Success Stories

The real-world examples of OneStream in action and the customer success story sessions helped showcase OneStream’s range of features and capabilities. These sessions were:

• Conquering the Financial Close: Replacing Oracle Hyperion at Auchan
• Unleashing the Power of Finance at Vima Foods
• Customer Transformation Story: Aligning Digital Strategy Globally at Mediapro
• From Spreadsheet Jungle to Platform Paradise: Nord Anglia’s Global Planning Transformation

Drop-in Demos

Conference attendees were invited to drop into technology demonstrations held throughout the event. During each demo, a OneStream team member gave a guided walk-through of a OneStream feature, such as data integration and ML. 

Special Events

• Splash Night Out

Splash Night Out is a highlight of every OneStream user conference, and this year did not disappoint. Conference attendees were invited to dress up in their best Roaring ‘20s attire and spend the evening at The Bridge, a popular Parisian venue on the Seine River with a view of the Eiffel Tower’s lights.

• Women in Finance Panel

This year’s panel members, Michelle Fuoco of Subway, Julia Fowler of Dyson, and Gaia Kaldor of OneStream Software, ran a discussion on how finance has evolved in their business in 2022. The panelists focused specifically on how modern leaders use intelligence finance for organizational collaboration, building bridges, and career development. 

Key Takeaways from Splash EMEA 2022

As always, Splash EMEA was a great opportunity to hear about OneStream’s newest innovations. The key takeaways from Splash EMEA 2022 focused on sensible machine learning, ESG reporting, and Microsoft Power BI integration. 

These new capabilities will provide OneStream users with deeper financial and operational insights, facilitate decision-making, and increase their ROI in the OneStream platform.

If you didn’t make it to Splash EMEA 2022 in Paris, hopefully we’ll see you next year in Berlin, Sept. 19-21. In the meantime, get your free copy of the new EPMware data governance e-book.

With practical advice for implementing data governance in your organization, Navigating the Data Governance Landscape breaks down the whats, whys, and hows of data governance for business users and finance teams. 

For more information on how EPMware creates a centralized hub for master data and data governance to share OneStream metadata with ERPs and Data Warehouses, click here "Request a Demo" for a quick conversation with one of our technical experts.